The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1887-10-13

every duly elected and qualified officer
"shsll only be deprived Of the incumbency
Of hat Office, its responsibilities and emol-
ments, by the oder Of the courts, after the
case has had q fair and impartial hear
ing" but our board tevery ono of whom be-
lieves him self to lie a bigger general than
U. s. Grant ever WIS., refused to pay the
salary of the district attorney Of this coun-
ty, and thus insulted the majesty Of the law
by superceding the action Of the district
court, in refusing to pay the lawful debts
OF the county. Again the law requires that
when the county warrants are deprecated
in alu",a and the treasurer unat1e to pay 8, i
warrants tor want of funds then it is made
the duty OF the board to make . levy Of &
mills on the dollar Of the assessabls proper,
ty, to meet the deficiency, and if that
amount is not sufficient then to ask Of the
people at a general or special election
whether or not = special levy shall be made
to defrsy the balance, of the Indebtedness.
But these gentlemen nave discarded the
laws made for their benefit, and become 4
Jaw unto themselves; they have made no
levy Whatever for indebtedness, not oven to
meet the current expenses for the year, and
the question has not been submitted to the
people. While the law specially forbids
any officer to expend public money on pri-
vate property, and fixes . heavy penalty for
an infringement Of same, and although this
board we'll knows that there 10 not a law
fully laid out road in the county-every
foot Of road in it now il private property
or on government land, and Jet the great
economists have and are continuing to ex-
pend public money for tho maintaining OF,
and repairing the said roads and bridges.
The legislature Of 1883 very wisely prohib-
tied county boards from imposing any tax
on personal property for the construction
and repairs Of roads and bridges. in order,
no doubt, that the nonresident lane owners
might be compelled to contribute their just
share Of the expenses, but our granger
board has soon fit to set aside this wiseasta-
tute and they have illegally taxed the per-
sonal property Of the resident taxpayers,
to the tune of 2 mills on the dollar
As this letter is long enough, possibly,
for the space you can afford, 1 will defer
further remarks until your next issue. and
would now simply ask what will DO the
outcome of this almost total disregard of
the law, combined with egotism and egregi-
Gus laundering. There can be but one
snswer-and that is, this county some day
not far distant, will be involved in expen-
sive ::and useless litigation. Business
men and capitalists will keep further dis
tant than they are doing now. Bottineau
is possessed of IS good land as there is in
the northwest, and eveu along side Of a
railroad you must sell for q song, or not
sell at oil. With y discount of IS to 40
cents on our warrants, and interest added,
we are paying 81. 80 for every actual dol
lar in value the county receives. Although
the gross mismanagement OF the commits
sioners is fast making us a reproach and a
by-word in the territory, the voice of an
int. ligent people can not forever be stilled,
and there will be ere: ong such a shaking
up of the dry bones, as will make the gang
think that the morning Of the resurrection
has come, and then there will be weeping
and wailing among Ezra's hackers, and the
place hat knows them now, will know
them no more, forever. Very respect
fully, A farmer.